


A Different Season

by Stretchy_Longstocking



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: also (slaps the roof of this fic) this bad boy can hold so many ocs, sometimes you gotta add more gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22904176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stretchy_Longstocking/pseuds/Stretchy_Longstocking
Summary: This is a sequel to the first Escape the Night fic I've made! This is a twist of my own on Season 4, and I hope y'all enjoy it!
Relationships: Stretch's OCs Ships - Riku and Noel
Kudos: 10





	1. The Beginning of Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Society Against Evil found a way inside the Collector's Museum of the Dead, also known as Purgatory.

It was a nice summer night. The air was warm, the moon and stars were out, and everything was peaceful.

Joey, Nikita, and MatPat were in a forest with two Society Against Evil members, Jael and Ryu.

On the platform rock that stood between the group laid the crown of the Sorceress, the deed to Joey's old mansion, and the crystal from Everlock. Nikita wasn't there yet.

"This is a chance to save your friends, Joey. You have until morning, as usual, to save your friends." Jael said.

"Alright, but where's Nikita?" Joey asked, softly.

On cue, Nikita showed up, with her friend, Bretman Rock. "Hey, I brought a friend."

"Nikita, I don't want any more lives at stake. Why did you bring him?" Joey asked, concerned, and angry.

"I told him about the journey we had, and he wanted to come and help." Nikita shrugged.

Bretman smiled. "I could help, you don't know."

Joey sighed before nodding. "Okay..."

Jael started to lead them through the ritual to open the portal to the Museum of the Dead. As soon as the ritual finished, the portal opened.

"Let's go!" Joey and Bretman both ran in, but before anyone else could go through, the portal broke. Joey and Bretman were now in Purgatory.

"What happened?" Matt asked, scared.

~💀❤👻~

Joey and Bretman looked around the jungle they were now in. The savant looked at the now broken portal, sighing.

"Shit."

"Where are we, Joey?" Bretman asked.

"Hopefully, around the museum. Follow me." Joey started to walk through the jungle with Bretman in tow.

Pretty soon, they came across the huge museum of the dead. The savant and the playboy hid behind a rock when two creatures came out of the museum and to some guards. The Collector, and a Gorgon.

After the Collector gave the head guard a token, both the Collector and Gorgon went through their own portals and the guards were off.

"Okay, let's go." Joey whispered to Bretman as the two ran to the museum and went inside. They saw a room outside of the museum, and Joey went over to the room.

In that outside area, there were glass cases with some old YouTuber egos. An axe laid beside a glowing stump in the center of the glass cases. DeStorm, Rosanna, Gabbie, Tana, Colleen, Tim, Alex, and Justine.

"Oh my god...Joey, who are they?!" Bretman called out.

"These were my old friends...the ones who died." Joey looked at the cases, then looked at the axe and stump and went over to it.

"Joey, what are you doing?"

"I'm saving my friends." Joey nodded and smashed the stump in the middle, and one by one, the glass cases shattered around them as the YouTuber inside took a deep breath of air and looked around, confused.

"Yes! It worked!" Joey smiled.

"Where are we?" Rosanna asked, stepping down from her exhibit stand.

"You guys are in Purgatory..." Joey went to hug Rosanna, who hugged back.

"What?!" The recently deceased YouTubers started to check on each other and be sad and scared.

"Okay, we don't have much time. I want to get you all out of here."

"Why should we trust you? You killed us!" Colleen called out.

"Everyone felt bad during that whole thing, Colleen. I'm sorry it happened to you, but right now, I have to save you guys."

"I still don't trust you."

"Okay, everyone, how about we just follow him? It's freezing out, and being out of here sounds nice." Gabbie said.

Colleen rolled her eyes, but followed the group back into the museum.

Only to encounter Arthur, The Sorceress, and The Carnival Master.

"Whoa!" Joey held out his fists, ready to fight.

"Hey, hey...We didn't come here to kill you." Arthur raised his hands in defeat.

"Sadly." The Sorceress added.

"Why are you three here?! You three were dead!" Joey growled.

"The Collector brought us here...but we have yet to escape just like you and your group, Savant. We don't have any weapons or magic on us." The Carnival Master, Nicholas, answered.

"I still don't trust you three." Joey replied.

"Fine, but we'll do our best to prove that we're trying to at least help you escape with your friends." Arthur rolled his eyes. "Let's just get to the lounge."

The three main monsters walked to the nice lounge with the group, and Bretman pointed out the wall of keyholes.

"What's that?" Bretman asked.

"That's the wall with keyholes to unlock the one thing that can help get us all out of here. Each keyhole is from each monster." Nicholas counted the keyholes. "Nine keyholes."

"That means nine monsters." Tana sighed. "Damn."

"They have kids with them too." Arthur admitted.

"THEY HAVE KIDS?!" Joey exclaimed.

"Well, some do." The Sorceress shrugged. "Some are associates."

"Oh my god..." Joey sighed. "We're going to have to fight kids."

"Who's the first monster, then?" Tim asked, looking at the three main monsters.

"We...don't know. But, we did see an exhibit open, and some spiders escaped from it." The Sorceress explained.

"Jorōgumo?" Gabbie asked.

"That's her name, yes." Nicholas replied.

"Does she had a kid?" Joey asked.

"No, but rather...a new assistant along with Haruko and Kira."


	2. The Spider's Web

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the new helper of Jorōgumo.

Joey was still at the lounge with his group of Youtubers and the three monsters when they all decided on going to this supposed exhibit that opened up spiders. They walked carefully, as if to not alert any other monsters, and they finally got in, only to be disgusted.

The room was like a legit basement and yet was fancy. Cold, dim, and full of spider webs. In the far back wall was a black and red throne with spider legs coming out from the back. The walls were painted red with black curtains over the one bay window in the room. There was a cobweb corpse on a desk, spiders hung from the ceiling like a cheap Halloween decoration, and there were bottles of poisons and alcohols on a stand.

"Oh, this place is creepy." Tana looked disgusted and scared.

"And gross." Rosanna looked around. "But also kind of fancy."

Once they were all inside, they found a note on the stand of alcohol. Joey went to read it.

"I'm sure that you have played this game before with our boss. Unfortunately, she is not here at the moment to see you play her game. Three shot glasses of alcohol are hidden throughout the room, with the symbol of the group you work for. If you accidentally drink the one that doesn't have the symbol, you are as good as long gone."

"Oh my god, it's the game again!" Tana looked at Joey.

"Well, we should find those shot glasses." Joey announced, and everyone, except the monsters, went to find them. Rosanna was the first to find one of brown alcohol, Bretman was the second to find one of blue alcohol, and Colleen was the final to find one of pink alcohol.

Once they got the shots, Joey looked at everyone. "Who wants to drink them?"

"I'll do it." Tana suggested, and went to drink them, one by one. Every drop counted.

Once Tana was done, a chest on the other side of the room opened up, and Rosanna ran over to get it. She got out a note.

"The key is hidden on one of the three workers for Jorōgumo. To get close to the one who does so, three of you must be captured by all three. This is a risk of life, however, as the people who are caught are getting their names into the death challenge."

"Oh my god, again?" Joey sighed. "I'm so sorry, you guys."

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you in the first place!" Colleen shouted, angry.

"I think he didn't have any idea." Gabbie said.

"Yeah! I didn't have any idea that this would happen again!" Joey retorted back to Colleen.

"Quiet, both of you! You two bickering is giving me a headache!" Nicholas growled.

"You're right. We should go." Tim said, nodding.

The group started to walk out of the spider exhibit when they heard hissing. Joey looked around to see Haruko, Kira, and a tall black-haired man.

And the chase began.

"RUN!" Joey screamed as the group started to run back to the lobby, but three were caught. Rosanna, DeStorm, and Justine. 

The three that were caught were dragged away back to the spider exhibit.

"Oh my god! No!" Joey looked scared.

~💀❤👻~

Once the three were dragged back to the exhibit, they were locked in with the three kidnappers.

Two of them were obviously Haruko and Kira, the two girls who worked for the spider woman.

The last one was a man who looked like a brother to the two girls. He wore a red shirt that was unbuttoned at the chest, a black vest, black pants with matching boots and a matching choker around his neck with a spider-themed jewel in the center.

On his person, though, was a necklace that held one of the keys with a blood-red gem. 

"Oh, he has the key." Justine whisper-shouted to Rosanna and DeStorm.

"Oh? Looking for this?" The male held it up. His voice was teasing, and surprisingly soft.

"Yes! We need that to get something to get us out of this place." Rosanna nodded.

"Hmm...To get out? But it's so lovely in this museum." The man leaned against the wall, smirking a bit.

"But we have lives outside this museum." DeStorm looked at the man. "What's your name anyway?"

"Tch. Why would you care?" The man walked over and held DeStorm by the chin. "You'll get to learn my name when you're long dead."

"Jokes on you, I'm not going to die tonight." DeStorm spat back.

The man rolled his red eyes and let go of DeStorm. "Well...your friends are out in the lobby. So, we can get this challenge done and over with."

He walked to a large table that sat in a corner and pulled it over to the center of the room. A deck of playing cards and a note rested on the table. Rosanna went to check it.

"Welcome to a game of Strip Go Fish. Usually, it's poker, but the man in front of you is a local dumbass and doesn't know how to play poker."

That earned a snicker from Haruko and Kira, and the man sighed.

"If you have four pairs of cards and won the game, and/or haven't lost the most clothing, you win. The one who lost the most clothing would be laid out and eaten by Jorōgumo when she comes back."

"So...let's play." Haruko set up the cards and chairs. He and his sisters on the left side, and the YouTubers on the right side.

Everyone got their cards, and the game began.

~💀❤👻~

"Jet-Setter...do you have any Eight of Aces?" Haruko asked.

"Go fish." Rosanna nodded.

Haruko sighed and took off one of her shoes.

"I'll go next! Kira, do you have any Twos of Clubs?"

Kira scoffed and gave Rosanna the card, earning a small "thank you!"

"Adventurer, do you have any Seven of Hearts?" The man asked.

Justine sighed and gave the man the card, who smiled in return.

It went like this for a while, and Justine seemed the one to be loosing.

"Jet-Setter, do you have any Four of Diamonds?" Haruko asked.

"Go fish." Rosanna answered.

Haruko took off her last stocking.

"Okay...Man, do you have any Two of Hearts?" Rosanna smiled.

The man sighed and gave the card to Rosanna, who smiled. "I won!"

"Splendid...Who lost the most clothes?" The man asked.

"It was me..." Justine confessed.

"Oh my god." Rosanna covered his mouth.

"Well...you know the rules." The man charged towards Justine, who screamed and ran before getting caught by the sibling trio.

The siblings carried them back to the exhibit, took the cobweb corpse off the desk, and laid Justine on there, and strapped her onto the desk.

Rosanna started to run back to the group, but DeStorm stayed.

The man faced DeStorm. "Well...I supposed a promise is a promise." He took off the key necklace, and faltered a bit, stumbling backward a tiny bit.

"You okay, dude?" DeStorm asked, grabbing the key.

"...What happened?" The man asked.

"You just attacked...Oh...the key corrupted or possessed you." DeStorm nodded a bit, slightly scared. He then sighed and faced the man.

The man's eyes were now dark brown.

"Okay...I don't know why I'm doing this, but you should come with me. My group is nice, and you can probably be of help."

"...Okay." The man accepted, going to walk to the lobby with DeStorm.

"What's your name, by the way?" DeStorm asked while they walked.

"Riku." Riku smiled a tiny bit.

~💀❤👻~

Once the two were back to the group, Joey backed up when he saw Riku.

"That's one of the people who caught you guys!" Joey called out.

"I know, but...he was corrupted." DeStorm told them.

"What...? By what?" Gabbie asked.

"I think it was the key. His eyes used to be red, but they're brown once he took off the key necklace." DeStorm held up the key.

"Wow...This brings a whole new meaning to the mission. We can't beat these kids...we have to save them." 

"Like that teen from Everlock?" Rosanna looked up at Joey.

"Exactly!" Joey nodded.

"Alright, I'm going to unlock this." DeStorm walked over to the vault and Riku stood in his own place.

DeStorm put the key in the blood-red lock, and turned it before it became unlocked.

As soon as he did that, the whirring of machinery played in the air.


	3. The Inventor's Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the new addition to the family.

Before the team can investigate the whirring noise, a small jewelry box on the coffee table in the lobby opened. 

"Oh, the box opened." Alex went to look inside, and took out a note from the box. "Shall I read it out loud?"

"Well, yeah, of course." Joey nodded.

Alex started to read the note, looking dead serious. "Gears and metal, the monster bride has a monster daughter."

Before anyone could ask, there was some metal stomping and Joey turned around...

Only to see what looked like a teenage girl.

"Um...hello?" Joey asked.

The girl turned around and the group looked confused.

The girl looked like a human robot, much like the Automaton Bride, but in a teenage girl form. The joins in her arms and fingers were rusted, her steampunk dress looked filthy, and she had a red glint in her eyes. Her brown and silver hair was a filthy mess as well.

Around her neck was a rust-colored gem key.

"Oh shit, she has the key." Bretman whispered.

"Hey...what's your name?" Joey asked, trying to be polite.

"Agatha." The machine girl, Agatha, said in a cold robot voice.

"Alright, so I'm guessing you are a child. Where are your parents?" Joey asked.

"None of your business." Agatha slowly watched Joey's movements.

While distracted, Tana went to slowly get the key necklace from the girl.

Until a hand reached around to grab Tana by the wrist.

The girl gasped as Agatha slowly faced Tana. "Why did you try to take my prize?"

"I-I wasn't, I just saw how your hair looked and wanted to fix it!"

"Do you lie?!" 

"No!" Tana looked scared.

Agatha started to drag Tana somewhere, and Arthur ran to get to Agatha.

"Please, madam, let go of Tana."

"I don't listen to you, Arthur."

"If you don't unhand her this instance, I will go and tell Cedric."

There was a moment of silence, besides the machine noise, as Agatha let go of Tana. As soon as Agatha let go, Tana ran back to the others.

"Good, now, give us that key."

Another moment of silence, before Agatha punched Arthur across the face.

Arthur staggered backward, and Agatha ran off.

"Son of a...god damn." Arthur sighed a bit. "That hurt."

Rosanna ran over to help Arthur back to the lobby and sit him down. "What happened?"

"Agatha punched me across the face."

"Oh man, that's gonna leave a mark." Tim joked a bit.

"Yeah, but we need to find her and her parents." Arthur nodded. "Before they find us."

"That's a threat, oh boy." Gabbie looked scared.

When there were more machinery noises, the group of adventurers went towards the noise, and found the Automaton Bride. She looked sad.

When she looked up at saw the group, she looked hopeful. "Oh!"

"Oh, it's the lady that kind of stole my heart." Gabbie sighed.

"Oh...sorry about that." The Bride looked sad.

"It's fine, I'm okay now." Gabbie nodded.

"Well...I honestly really need your help...My daughter became possessed when she got the key from the Collector. Cedric wants to make a contraption to stop his daughter so he can get the key off of Agatha. But, if you are here, you can help us."

"What do we need to do?" Joey asked.

"I'm sorry, but two of you have to go to get the key."

"Of fricking course, okay." Joey sighed.

"I know, I know, but it must be done."

"...Alright, lead us to the voting." Joey seemed to accept it, and the Bride led them to a small counter with the cards.

Once everyone was done voting, the Bride shuffled the cards before selecting two.

"The two who would go through the challenge are...Tim and DeStorm."

Joey looked between the two. "Oh geez..."

"Honestly...I'm not as scared. I did die already once." Tim admitted.

"Same, but we should still work hard to get the girl and get the key." DeStorm nodded.

"I'll go with them." Riku volunteered, and went to lead Tim and DeStorm

While the three got up and went to hunt down Agatha, Joey and the group wished them good luck.

~💀❤👻~

Tim, Riku, and DeStorm were searching around the museum for Agatha, alert and with flashlights.

When they heard some footsteps down the hall, they immediately went to follow, and ended up in a museum room. Tim opened the door to reveal a huge steampunk laboratory room.

And Agatha was in a corner, far away from Tim, Riku, and DeStorm. She looked like a mixture of anger and yet...sadness.

The three men went towards Agatha slowly, and the cyborg growled.

"Stay back! I will kill all of you!" 

"No, it's fine. We just want to talk about that key." DeStorm said.

"It's mine! The Collector gave it to me, and I won't lose it!"

"Well...have you ever thought maybe the Collector is bad?" Tim asked.

"What...? Why?" Agatha seemed to calm down a bit due to confusion.

"Well, you've been here for a long time, I believe. Don't you want to go out there and see the world?" Tim asked again.

"...Well, yes...I want to go out and explore with my parents." Agatha slowly calmed down still.

"Plus, that key is corrupting you. It happened to Riku as well." DeStorm admitted.

"Yeah...I was a monster." Riku nodded.

"Oh yeah...you were the worker for the spider lady, right?" Agatha seemed calmer.

"Yes...now, can we please have that key?" Riku asked softly.

When Agatha started to think, Tim snatched the key. 

But, before the corruption would leave her, Agatha pulled out a knife from her dress pocket and stabbed Tim right in the heart.

Tim staggered back before falling onto the ground, dead.

When Agatha was back to normal, her eyes were a glassy blue color and the rust from her joints went away. She looked at the bloodied knife in her hand and dropped it, covering her mouth in shock. "Oh my god..."

DeStorm sighed a bit, looking sad. "It's okay...You were not yourself."

"A-Are you sure?" Agatha looked terrified.

"Yes, now, we're going to get this key to the others, and you should follow us." DeStorm started to walk.

Agatha looked at Riku, who started to follow DeStorm, before following the two herself, saying a small "sorry" to Tim's corpse.

~💀❤👻~

When they came back to the room, Joey looked up at the three. "Tim died, huh?"

DeStorm nodded. "Yep, and we saved another child as well." He handed the key to Rosanna.

Rosanna looked sad as she went to unlock one of the locks.

As soon as it unlocked, the smell of sweets permeated through the air.


	4. The Sweetest Baker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the new owner of the bakery.

When the smells started to permeate through the air, Gabbie looked confused.

"That smells familiar..." Gabbie started to walk, as the rest started to follow her. Joey looking confused along with Alex.

Pretty soon, they came to a room that had a plaque that read "Bakery". 

DeStorm went into the bakery and came to a pretty nice sight.

It looked like a bakery you'd find at Disneyland, or in the mind of a little kid. There was a cotton candy pink and blue aesthetic to the walls and decor to the room, and some cases that held a lot of pastries, ranging from croissants to full-on birthday cakes! The air smelled sweet, and it was genuinely a nice experience.

"Oh...This reminds me of the Gingerbread Woman's bakery." Alex said.

"Mhm. But...nicer." Gabbie smiled, then jumped when a figure came out with a plate of sugar cookies.

It was a chubby teenage girl, with ginger hair in pigtails. She wore a baker's outfit that had pink and blue on it as well, and a lovely, frilly apron. 

She looked at the group and smiled. "Oh! I didn't know we're having guests over! I'm Dawn, nice to meet you!"

Joey waved hesitantly. "Hi...I'm guessing you're the daughter of the Gingerbread Woman."

"Oh, yeah, she's my mom. When she...died, I was almost ready to work at the bakery, actually! So, I quickly took it over. Probably sounds bad, I know, but I love making this my own."

DeStorm nodded. "Alright. By the way, have you seen a key anywhere?"

"What kind of key?" Dawn went to place the tray of cookies onto the counter.

"A key from the Collector." DeStorm asked, and that made Dawn stop in her tracks.

"...Is it that key that makes everyone bad?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, why?"

"...Sampson has it."

"The worker? How?" Joey asked.

"I don't know, but he's been...kind of scary as of late. I'm afraid to do anything, like tell him to be nice." Dawn sounded scared.

"I can go get it." DeStorm nodded.

"And I'll go to protect him." Alex smiled a bit.

"Are you sure? It might end up bad." Dawn looked a bit worried.

DeStorm nodded. "If anything happens...At least we'll get the key."

"...Alright, but hopefully nothing bad happens." Dawn nodded. "He should be in the baking area. Last time I checked, he was sharpening a knife.

DeStorm nodded and went towards the back with Alex. Dawn still looked uneasy as she stayed behind with the group.

~🥐🔪🗝~

When Alex and DeStorm reached the back, they found Sampson still sharpening a knife.

DeStorm looked at Alex, before silently walking towards Sampson. He was stopped when Alex gripped him by the arm.

"DeStorm, what are you doing?!" Alex whispered.

"...Let me go, Alex. I know what I'm doing." DeStorm whispered back, took his arm back, and ran towards Sampson and got the key off of him when the man turned around.

Sampson screeched and stabbed DeStorm in the stomach as the key skidded towards Alex. The pilot took it, and looked at the bloody scene.

Sampson was normal, and looked scared. "Oh my god...I'm so sorry."

"I guess the key really does corrupt people...Huh." Alex looked sad. "I think it'll be okay. I think DeStorm would forgive you, wherever he ended up. Probably pissed off, of course, but still. He did know that the key corrupts."

"...I'm still sorry. Please don't tell Dawn about any of this. I don't want her to know." Sampson pleaded.

"...I can't promise anything, but I believe that she'll forgive you." Alex said before he went back to the group.

~🥐🔪🗝~

When Alex came back, Dawn looked sad.

"Did he die?" Joey asked.

Alex nodded, solemnly.

Dawn sighed. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have jinxed it."

"It's fine, it's not your fault." Rosanna nodded and went to console Dawn. "You know...I think your friends are in the lobby. Would you like to see them?"

"...Who?" Dawn asked.

"Riku and Agatha." Alex said, still holding the key. "We need to go back there anyway, as we have the other key."

Joey nodded, and went to the lobby with everyone as the air felt heavy with grief.

~🥐🔪🗝~

Once they were all back in the lobby, Alex went to unlock the key as Dawn went to Riku and Agatha.

"Hi." Dawn smiled sadly.

Agatha looked sad and got up to hugged Dawn. "I heard what happened. Are you alright?"

Dawn nodded. "It's nice to see you two again. You know...not evil this time."

Riku smiled a tiny bit and went to hug Dawn as well. "Will you be okay?"

"Probably, right? As people move on after someone dies?" Dawn asked.

"Of course, and we'll be here to help you." Agatha then heard someone call for her name. "Oh, I think my parents want me back. I'll see you two later, okay?"

Dawn and Riku nodded before Agatha went after saying bye to everyone else.

Then, as Agatha left, there was the sound of soft singing...


	5. The Siren Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the newest sister.

The singing was vocalizing. It sounded like some sort of Disney princess singing from a movie.

"Son of a bitch! Everyone, cover their ears!" Carnival Master covered his ears, and pretty soon, everyone followed the lead.

Once they thought the singing stopped, Joey uncovered his ears to hear a splash. "Guys, it's safe. Let's go!" He started to walk out.

"Wait, why?" Gabbie asked as she and the group followed him.

"There was a splash! Come with me!" Joey said, leading them outside.

~🐠🌊🐳~

When they found out the splashing sound, the group was surprised to see a pool! It was big, and was built into the ground, and the water inside was glowing a nice sky blue color.

The water was disturbed though, by someone swimming in the water. Bretman got the edge of the pool and sat by it to see what was in, and as soon as he did...

A scaly hand grabbed Bretman's ankle, and dragged him into the water.

"OH SHIT! HELP!" Was the last thing Bretman said before he went underwater.

Joey ran back over and tried to grab Bretman out of the water. "Oh god damn it!"

Tana ran to help as well, and a person popped out of the water, snarling at the two.

It was a teenage girl who looked like a mermaid. Gills on her chest and neck, her cheeks slit to almost give her a permanent smile, blood-red eyes, and clawed and scaled hands. There was a necklace with a key around her neck.

"Oh! I thought we were rid of you!" Joey looked down at the mermaid.

"Yet you question the others that have joined you." The girl snarled back. "I am Celeste Jones, sister to Fredrick Jones and friend of Madison Jones. You have met her before." 

"Yeah, but can you please release Bretman?" Joey asked. 

"What makes you think I can trust you so much that I release him?" Celeste growled a bit, still having a hold on Bretman.

"Because I saved your other friends, who were trapped under the corruption of the key!" Joey said back.

"Yeah! Plus they joined our side to defeat the Collector and save us all!" Tana stood by Joey.

"A woman helping a man...Something I haven't seen in years." Celeste seemed to soften a bit.

"Yeah, and if you give us Bretman back, and give us that key, you can come with us! You can help us solve things and not let anyone else die." Joey knelt by the pool. "You can trust us."

"...What's the name of the workers for Jorōgumo?" Celeste asked, as if trying to prove something.

"What?" Joey asked.

"What's the name of the workers for Jorōgumo?" Celeste repeated, still holding onto Bretman.

"Oh! Haruko, Kira, and Riku! Riku helps us! So does Dawn!" Tana answered.

"...Dawn?" Celeste softened again. "Oh...Dawn. Gingerbread Woman's daughter. She used to make my sisters and I cute little sea salt treats. She's just as cool as Noel." 

"Noel?" Joey asked, but then decided to ask about them later. "Can you please let go of Bretman?"

"...For a sacrifice." Celeste remarked. "If you sacrifice two for one, I'll let go of the one. In return, you get the key."

"...I'll sacrifice myself." Tana said, looking at Joey. "But you have to pick another person."

"Tana...are you sure?" Joey asked.

"I'll be fine, Joey." Tana said, with a sad smile.

"But what if you don't come back, just like the rest?!" Joey tried to argue.

"Well...I have a feeling I might be back soon." Tana nodded. "Trust me on this, please."

"...Okay. Stay here, I'll be back." Joey started to head inside, looking concerned as Tana sat by the pool.

~🐠🌊🐳~

When Joey came back inside, Rosanna looked worried.

"Where's Tana? Where's Bretman?" Rosanna asked.

"We have to sacrifice someone to get Bretman back." Joey looked sad.

"Oh, son of a damn it, okay." Colleen sighed. "Alright, let's get the voting thing over with."

The Sorceress got the cards ready, and as soon as the voting started, it ended. The Sorceress shuffled the cards, and pulled one out.

"The one to be sacrificed is...Gabbie." 

Gabbie sighed, but got up. "Okay...That's a bit scary."

"Gabbie, I'm so sorry." Rosanna said, sniffling a bit.

"It's okay. Now, I will see you all later" Gabbie got up, and walked out.

Joey stayed in the lobby with the rest of the group, and pretty soon there were two feminine screams and some growling and snarling.

And soon, Bretman and Celeste came back. Celeste was wearing Gabbie's dress, and Bretman was holding the key.

"That was the scariest thing I've seen." Bretman said as he ran over to unlock another lock.

Dawn looked up at Celeste and smiled. "Oh! Hi!"

Celeste waved. "Hi." She sat next to Dawn. "How are you?"

"I'm good! I've been working on some sea salt treats for you and your friends." Dawn smiled.

"Ohhh, you'd have to show me later." Celeste smiled.

When Bretman turned the key to unlock the lock, and as he did, there were some voices and light.

Joey looked over to the light, and smiled. "Oh my goodness!"


	6. Stone Cold Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the newest snake in the garden.

When the lights disappeared, MatPat and Nikita were standing there.

Rosanna gasped and ran towards Mat. "Mat!"

Mat smiled and hugged Rosanna once she reached him. "Ro! Oh my god, I missed you."

"I missed you too! You would not BELIEVE the kind of night we've had so far!" Rosanna smiled.

Mat smiled, then saw Nikita travel to where Carnival Master stood. "Wait, why is he here?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Nikita got ready to fight.

The Carnival Master sighed. "I am not posing a threat tonight, along with the Sorceress and Arthur the Butler. We want to get out of here as much as you all."

"And how do we know that?" Nikita asked.

"Nikita, we're still here." Joey answered with a smile. "We're fine."

Nikita looked at Joey, then back to the Carnival Master, then sighed. "Fine, but if he pulls some shit, I'm kicking his ass."

Joey nodded, then heard something. "Do you guys hear that?"

As everyone fell silent to hear, there was the sounds of snakes hissing. Pretty soon, the noise became louder and louder until...

Mortimer was snatched by a woman with snakes for hair. It was a gorgon.

"Oh shit!" Bretman held onto Colleen and Joey as the gorgon ran off with Mortimer.

Colleen looked surprised. "Holy hell, what was that?!"

"That was a gorgon!" Joey answered, then looked over to a small chest as it opened by itself. Alex ran over to read the note inside.

"The gorgon has captured your friend, and it is already too late to save him. To get the key to the exit out of the museum, you'd have to get past the labyrinth with the Minotaur, help build the statues in her garden, and then do the final task that will be assigned at the end of the labyrinth."

"Alright, so we need two groups. One for the labyrinth and one for the statues." Riku said.

"...I'm sorry, who are you?" Nikita asked Riku.

"It's a long story, lady, now's not the time!" Riku sighed. "Anyways, we should separate each other into groups. One in...the new dude's team, and the new lady's team."

"We have names, you know." Mat said.

"Yet again, not the time." Riku nodded.

Once the groups were set, one headed to the garden, and one headed to the labyrinth.

~🐍🗿🗝~

Once MatPat's group was in the garden, they found six statues. 3 were missing accessories, and 3 were just plain gone.

"Alright, we got to search around the place." MatPat smiled, and faced his team. Colleen, Rosanna, Alex, and Dawn.

Everyone nodded and started to look around the garden as they looked at the plaques for clues. After a few minutes, there was a hissing sound.

Colleen, Alex, Rosanna, and MatPat ran as Dawn stayed there.

Mat saw her and whisper-yelled. "What are you doing?!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Dawn whisper-yelled back.

Pretty soon, a figure walked in. It was the gorgon, but smaller. A teenage girl with snakes for hair. 

"Irene." Dawn said.

The girl, Irene, covered her eyes and smiled as she "faced" the baker girl. "Hello, Dawn."

"It's me, yes. Me and only me." Dawn smiled.

"Ah, now I know why the air feels more cheerful. What did you need?" Irene asked.

"I wanted to help you and your mom with your statues. It seems like some are broken." Dawn nodded.

"Ah, yeah, I like to hide the accessories. They should be in a trunk behind the Lover's statue." Irene nodded.

"Thank you." Dawn smiled. "Do you mind if you leave so I can do it?"

"Wait, why would I need to leave?" Irene asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, n-no." Dawn lied. "But...remember the mirror shield?"

"Oh, yeah, that was a thing. I still want to help-" Irene was cut off by a sneeze from Rosanna. "...Someone's here."

"...No?" Dawn looked at the others.

"No, someone is here. Are you hiding them from me?" Irene asked.

"No, of course not!" Dawn lied again. 

Irene sighed. "Whoever is here, please show yourself. I won't uncover my eyes, I promise."

"We're not here to hurt you." Mat answered back.

"...Multiple people." Irene seemed to back up a bit. "What are your names?"

"I'm Rosanna, and this is Colleen, Alex, and MatPat." Rosanna answered.

"You aren't here to hurt, right?" Irene asked.

"Of course not. Unless you hurt us first." Mat answered.

"...Okay, I trust you."

As the group went back over to Dawn, Mat walked up to Irene. He pulled out a pair of sunglasses and smiled. "Can you close your eyes, and uncover your eyes?"

"...Why?"

"Trust me on this."

Irene stayed silent as she closed her eyes and took her hands off her eyes. Mat put the glasses onto her face. "Alright, open them."

Irene opened her eyes, and looked at everyone. "...Why is everything orange?"

"I put some sunglasses on you, so you can see without turning anyone to stone."

"Oh...Oh wow." Irene smiled a bit. "Oh my goodness, that's so nice. Thank you."

Mat nodded as he asked another question

"Now, do you know where a key would be?" Mat asked. "More so the key the Collector gave you?"

"The Collector key...she didn't give me one." Irene started to think. "Or my mom either."

"Then who would have it?" Colleen asked.

"The Minotaur."

~🐍🗿🗝~

With the other group, they were in the middle of going through the labyrinth. They had to solve riddles for the three locked doors and also not get caught by the Minotaur.

When the current runner, Joey, was reaching the final door, he gasped as he saw the final door. He looked to the plaque and read it out loud.

"What is the creature that walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three in the evening?"

"So...four legs in the morning...two in the noon." Joey seemed to think before he called out. "I need help with this fucking riddle!"

"What does it say?!" Riku yelled back, a bit away from Joey in the maze because he was distracting the Minotaur.

"It says about a creature who walks on four legs in the morning, two in the noon-"

"It's man!" Riku interrupted Joey. 

"Are you sure?!"

"YES, JUST GET THE FUCKING FINAL TASK!"

"Okay, no need to be rude." Joey faced the cell door. "Man."

The door opened and Joey ran in to get the note. He sighed and went back to the lobby with his group and MatPat's group.

~🐍🗿🗝~

Once everyone was in, The Sorceress was staring at the now-statue form of a terrified Mortimer. Irene didn't come with the group as she wanted to stay with her mom. Riku was also bandaging his upper left arm, hissing a bit.

"God damn stupid...minotaur." Riku complained a bit.

Rosanna sighed. "So, what do we do?"

"We got to vote for who would do the game." Joey nodded.

Celeste nodded and looked at the Sorceress. "We're ready to vote."

The Sorceress smiled and went to the counter. "Alright."

One by one, the voting started. And pretty soon, it was over.

"The two that will play the game is...Colleen and Bretman."

Colleen sighed, and looked at MatPat. "Want to help me?"

"Couldn't be happier to help." MatPat smiled and went to stand next to Colleen.

"Nikita." Bretman smiled and the two hugged.

"Alright, follow me." Sorceress started to lead the group back outside to the labyrinth.

~🐍🗿🗝~

Once they were at the labyrinth, The Sorceress led them to the middle, where there was a puzzle picture, and some directions.

The game was having to build a 3-D puzzle of the Parthenon with the pieces you find throughout the maze. Whoever lost would be killed by the Minotaur.

When the game started, MatPat and Nikita ran off to find the pieces assigned to each player as Bretman and Colleen figured out how to build it.

When Colleen and MatPat almost won, while Mat was looking for some more parts as Colleen was looking away, Bretman knocked off Colleen's puzzle.

Colleen saw the pieces and gasped. "Did you fuck up my puzzle on accident?!"

"A girl's gotta do what she's gotta do!"

"You son of a bitch!" Colleen started to pick up the pieces as MatPat and Nikita came back. 

It was too late to build it back up, as Nikita and Bretman were faster and they built their puzzle.

As soon as the puzzle was finished, Mat disappeared then teleported to the lobby with the group. "God damn it!"

Before Colleen got killed, she grabbed the key and threw it away from them as she breathed her final breath and died.

Nikita ran to get the key and ran back out with Bretman.

~🐍🗿🗝~

When Nikita and Bretman came back to the lobby, a sad silence spread out into the room as Nikita went to unlock one of the locks.

"So...we have six so far. That means there's three left." Joey sighed. "I'm so sorry for dragging you guys into this."

"It's fine...Your intentions are true." Rosanna smiled. "You want to save everyone. And who knows? Maybe at the end, we will."

"Thanks for being so nice, Rosanna." Joey smiled.

"Now...I understand that we're fighting maybe some new and old faces...but who are they?" Mat pointed to Riku, Dawn, and Celeste.

"They're all related to the monsters we've fought so far. Riku's from the spider lady, Dawn was from the Gingerbread Woman, and Celeste was the mermaid girl." Joey nodded.

"...Like, as their kids, or?" Mat asked.

"Not me." Riku raised his hand. "I'm a brother to Haruko and Kira."

"And I'm the sister to Frederick Jones." Celeste nodded. 

"There was one earlier, who was a daughter of the Automation lady." Alex explained.

"...Huh. This is weird, but okay." Mat nodded. "So, what's next?"

As soon as Matt asked that, there was the sound of drums.


	7. Broken Heart of a Brother, Newfound Love of a Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A wedding would be held place.
> 
> (Also this chapter is super long)

As soon as the drums were being heard, these people carrying a professional-looking fake dragon started to run into the lobby and to outside, almost as if it's circling the group in the lobby.

The lobby started to have a bit of smoke from the pyrotechnics of the dragon, and pretty soon...

Only Rosanna, Dawn, Celeste, and Nikita were left.

"Where did...the boys go?" Rosanna asked, confused.

"I don't know, what the hell?" Celeste fanned the smoke away from her face. "Eugh, reminds me of my brother."

"Really? Reminds me of an accidentally burnt pastry." Dawn commented, which made Celeste snort a bit and smile.

"Alright, let's just...look for clues." Nikita nodded, and all four girls started to look around until Celeste found a note.

"I found a note!" Celeste held it up, and then started to read it out loud. "Start the Emperor's wedding festival with a bang."

"A wedding?" Rosanna asked, then gasped. "Awww, it'd be so cute to go to a wedding!"

"Oh, look." Nikita held something up. "It looks like Chinese firecrackers. One for all of us."

"Oh gosh, heck no." Dawn sighed. 

"What's wrong?" Celeste asked.

"I have this problem with loud noises." Dawn looked a bit embarrassed by the fact.

"Oh, it's fine! It'll end soon." Rosanna started to comfort Dawn. "We bakers gotta work together."

Dawn laughed a bit, starting to cheer up a bit. "Okay, but I'll do it this one time."

"Wait, there's also a combination we need for this box." Nikita pointed out.

"Alrighty, we can do this." Celeste nodded.

Rosanna nodded as well and they all grabbed the firecrackers. Two were set off, and two were just cracked open. With the confetti, they found some letters. T, A, M, and E.

"Okay, it's a letter code." Nikita nodded and started to mess around with the lock combination until she spelled "mate" and it popped open. In the box were rose petals and a note.

Dawn got the note out and started to read it. "Calling all maidens in the Middle Kingdom. The Emperor is in need of an heir and requires a wife. Report to the palace to be tested for beauty, etiquette, and conversation. The one who passes would marry the Emperor. Ignore this invitation, and face the consequences."

"...Wait, one of us is getting married to the Emperor?" Rosanna asked.

"It seems like it." Nikita answered.

"Okay, no, I'm out." Celeste sighed. "I can't do that."

"We all have to do it." Nikita looked at Celeste. "We have to."

Celeste sighed before the girls started to head for the room, or the palace.

~ 🐉💑🗝 ~

While the girls were doing their thing, the boys woke up in a little area with bags over their heads and chained to a box. One by one, they removed their bags and looked around.

"What the fuck?" Riku asked.

"Exactly." Joey nodded. "Who put us here?"

As Joey asked that, a man and a woman, both in blue, walked into the area. The man started to talk. "They're the Emperor's foreign mercenaries. I know they're after the Dragon Spear."

The woman talked back. "We need to kill them...or else they'll stop the rebellion."

"...We are right here." Riku looked at the two before he got a sword to his throat by the man in blue. "Okay, wow, first off. Second, before you start killing us, maybe we can tell you secrets we know."

"Yes!" Mat nodded.

"What secrets exactly?" The man asked.

"We will tell you if you let us go." Bretman looked up at the two.

"I'm pansexual, if that's a secret." Riku said.

"That's useless information!" The man looked at Riku.

"Maybe to you, it is." Riku rolled his eyes.

"Wait, we know about the Dragon Spear!" Joey said. "We know that it's a spear, and it's...long and powerful."

"Stop wasting our time!" The female shouted back at Joey, and pointed her sword at Joey, who backed off.

"...You all have one hour to bring us the spear, and prove to us that you truly are rebels." The man in blue spoke. "Otherwise, we'll find you, and kill you." The two started to walk out.

"Aren't you gonna help us?" Mat asked, holding up his chained hand.

"Figure it out." The two left, and the group started to look around.

Pretty soon, they figured out that they had to knock down a staff to get the keys. They gave one of the metal balls to Joey and he got the keys on the first try! He unlocked himself before he got the others out.

After they were all out, they got a note that they had to defeat these challenges to prove that they were as strong as the soldiers of China. Breaking boards, armored pull-ups, archery practice, and Chinese Chess.

The men started to do the challenges, as our ladies were getting ready...

~ 🐉💑🗝 ~

As all the women walked into the Ancient China Exhibit, there were three people. The Emperor himself, an older looking woman, and another woman who looked as young as the Emperor. The Emperor seemed cocky, and both the mother and sister looked polite.

"Mother, more women are here. Can you talk to them?" The Emperor said, rudely, making the sister sigh a bit.

The mother went up to the girls. "Each of you have to go through three tests. If you go through the challenges and win, you'll be his bride-to-be, and have protection from the death challenge."

Rosanna, Dawn, and Nikita looked ready. Celeste already looked done with the Emperor's crap.

"The first challenge is of beauty. Make a wardrobe that would fit the Emperor's likes." The mother led the girls to the dressing room, and there was a lot of wear. One by one, the woman picked their outfits, and they came out one by one. Each doing a small thing. Rosanna did a little dance, Celeste walked back and forth in front of the Emperor to show off the outfit, Nikita did a little joke, and Dawn said a nice thing about the Emperor.

"Emperor, what do you think?" The mother asked, and the Emperor pointed to Nikita. 

"Her." The Emperor said, a bit rudely again. The sister kept herself from rolling her eyes.

It was gonna be a long challenge.

~ 🐉💑🗝 ~

With the men still outside, they all started to do the tasks. The first was breaking a board, and Bretman did it with ease.

The second was armored pull-ups, which Joey did with not as much ease, but it worked out! 

The third was archery practice, which Alex lost.

The final one was Chinese Chess, and Mat beat it with ease with help from Riku.

Pretty soon, they did the final thing of posing at the heroes in the painting that held the key staff earlier, and a spear dropped down safely. Joey ran up to get it, and smiled. 

"Wow, I feel like a badass holding this!" Joey smiled.

"Alright, well, let's head inside." Mat smiled, and they all went back inside.

"Wait, where are the girls?" Joey asked.

~ 🐉💑🗝 ~

For the woman, the second test was to eat all the dumplings in their little steam basket with chopsticks as quickly and lady-like as possible. It was like a cute little eating contest. They all sat at the table, with the mother looking over them. The sister ate silently, and looked uncomfortable with sitting next to her brother.

Rosanna was prepared, and started to eat the dumplings like it was nothing.

Celeste was having some trouble with the chopsticks, and since she was still technically a killer mermaid, she ate kind of like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast.

Nikita was trying to distract the Emperor, and when he looked away, she threw the dumplings onto the floor.

Dawn was just calmly eating, enjoying the meal. After swallowing a bite, she smiled. "Honestly, this is better than my mom's meat pie."

The Emperor's sister kept herself from laughing, but cracked a small smile.

"Emperor?" The mother asked once they were all done with their food.

The Emperor pointed to Rosanna. "This one was quite aggressive with her mouth. Could be exciting."

Celeste gagged a bit, and Dawn looked as confused as Rosanna.

"Alright, onto the final task." The mother helped them to a wall. "This task is conversation. You must make the Emperor laugh in one minute. First up, Celeste Jones."

Celeste walked up to in front of the Emperor, and sighed. "What's the difference between a tuna, a piano, and a tub of glue?"

"What?" The Emperor asked.

"You can tuna piano, but you can't piano a tuna." 

"...What about the glue?"

"I knew you'd get stuck on that one." Celeste smiled.

The Emperor's sister covered her mouth to not laugh, as the Emperor rolled his eyes a bit but chuckled.

Next, it was Dawn's turn. "I have this joke from Sampson. Where do snowmen put their money into?"

"Where?"

"A snowbank." Dawn started to laugh at her joke, smiling. "Oh geez."

The Emperor sighed, and let Dawn go back. 

Next, it was Rosanna's turn. She started to talk conversational Mandarin Chinese, and the Emperor cracked a smile and laughed a tiny bit before it was time for Nikita's turn.

Nikita was snarky about it. "What if I was challenging you to make us laugh? Would you laugh at that, maybe in a sinister way."

Dawn took Nikita back. "Please do not do that, holy moly." 

"Well, Emperor? Which one?" The mother asked.

"Well...I wouldn't say that they are necessarily funny, but if I had to put the least boring...I would say her." The Emperor pointed to Rosanna again. "I will accept you as my bride."

"I'll go make the wedding arrangements." The mother said, taking Rosanna aside as the rest of the girls went back to the lobby.

~ 🐉💑🗝 ~

As the girls came back, Joey and the others stood up.

"What happened?" Bretman asked.

"We had to complete these tasks to become the Emperor's wife." Celeste answered. "And it fucking sucked."

"Wait, where's Ro?" Mat asked, worried. "Did she-"

"No, no! She's still alive!" Dawn explained. "She's...just maybe getting married to the Emperor."

"WHAT?!" Mat looked shocked, confused, and worried. "And I didn't get to meet him to see he was the right husband for her?!"

"Oh, no, trust us, he is not a good guy." Nikita explained, sighing.

Mat sighed, before the two rebels burst into the lobby.

"We gave you an hour!" The man in blue shouted as the group quickly backed away from them.

"We got the spear, look!" Joey showed the Dragon Spear.

"...He did know the location." The woman in blue nodded, and started to calm down.

"Okay, so can you help us?" Joey asked.

"We can send two into the wedding ceremony as distractions as we plot his death. We need the spear." The man explained, as the woman held out her hand.

Joey hesitantly gave them the spear, got a note from the man, and the two rebels went. Joey started to read the note. "...Guys, we have to vote two people to go and possibly die."

Everyone sighed, but they all voted in people. Arthur got the cards ready, shuffled them, and picked two.

Joey and Alex.

Joey and Alex faced each other, and nodded to each other.

If they had to fight each other to the death to get out, then they will.

~ 🐉💑🗝 ~

When they got outside, the rest of the group being party guests, there was a giant chess-looking board and the Emperor sat on his throne. Rosanna stood by him with the Emperor's sister and mom, and she waved to Mat. "Mat! Hi, I'm getting married!"

"Yeah, I heard." Mat looked worried.

Joey and Alex got a note. The rule of the game is that they had to start from their respective tile corners. You only had to travel to the adjacent tiles. The illegal move is diagonally. The person who ran out of moves loses.

Pretty soon, the two started to do the game. It looked like Alex was about to lose, before Joey did the unthinkable.

He moved diagonally.

The Emperor smiled and got out a sword. "A cheater? This got a lot more interesting!"

Before he even made a move to kill Joey, the two rebels and his own sister rushed in to kill the Emperor and the mother. The two rebels with the spear, and his sister with a small dagger.

As the Emperor fell over, dead, Rosanna grabbed the key and they all ran back to the lobby.

"Ro, oh my goodness." Mat went to hug Rosanna, who hugged back before going to unlock a lock. She then excused herself to go change with the other girls to get back into their own clothes.

When they came back, the Emperor's sister was there. She was in what looked like rebel-looking clothing of her own. She faced the group and seemed a bit...shy.

"It's okay, it's completely fine." Joey assured her.

"What is your name?" The Carnival Master asked.

"...Caihong." The girl, Caihong, said quietly.

"Nice to meet you." Alex smiled and waved.

Caihong smiled back a bit, and went to sit with Celeste.

"Alright...We're almost there, everyone." Joey said.

As soon as Joey said that, a cool breeze flew into the lobby, and Riku looked a bit hopeful...


	8. Thawing of a Frozen Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the son of the Ice Witch.

Riku looked down the hall that was behind the couch, looking hopeful.

"...Riku? You okay?" Joey asked.

"Shh! Shut up for a second." Riku whispered to Joey, not looking away from the hall as he talked.

Pretty soon, a figure emerged. It was a pale man with long, white hair. He wore a lot of gray with a specific snow and ice aesthetic to him.

"Noel!" Riku smiled happily and ran to the man before hugging him. "Noel, I missed you so much! You would not believe what-"

Riku was interrupted when an ice-cold hand held onto his head and grabbed his black hair. Riku stopped hugging Noel, and see that the other was wearing a key as a necklace.

"...Noel. You got a key." Riku said, sounding very afraid and yet sad.

"Hey! Let go of him!" Rosanna shouted, looking mad.

Noel took a look at the others, smiled, and started to run off after he grabbed Riku by the arm now and dragged him with.

Joey started to run after them, but then slipped and fell. He slipped onto some newly-formed ice on the floor. "Shit!"

Alex ran to help Joey back up. "It's okay, you did your best. Everyone slips on the ice at some point."

Joey got up with Alex's help. "Thank you." He looked back at the place where Riku and Noel once stood.

A box near Nikita opened up, and Nikita grabbed the note and started to read it.

"Your friend has been kidnapped by the Ice Witch's son, Noel. To get them back, two groups must go and solve two challenges to save your friend. Once they have been saved, two must go into the death challenge."

Joey sighed and nodded. "Nikita, Mat, since you two are Society against Evil members, mind if you be the leaders?"

"Sounds good." Nikita nodded.

Mat agreed as well.

"Alright, pick your teams." Sorceress said.

Pretty soon, they have their groups. Celeste went to stay in the lobby just in case, so it didn't take as long to make teams. Nikita's team had Bretman, Alex, and Dawn. Mat's team had Joey, Caihong, and Rosanna.

Pretty soon, the two got their maps from a desk in the lobby, and they went to their respective challenges.

~❄⛄🗝~

Nikita's team had a good challenge. It was to throw snowballs at targets until the code to the locked box on a table made of ice can be revealed.

And Nikita's team started to kick ass! Nikita hit her respective targets well, along with Bretman with his. Dawn had some trouble at first, but then gained enough throwing power to start and got her targets. Alex kept having some difficulty, more so because he was holding cold snow and had no gloves on, but also hit his targets too!

Pretty soon, a vase made of ice fell off of a shelf and revealed pieces of paper within the fragments. Dawn went to get the small pieces of paper, and read them while Bretman unlocked the code. 

Pretty soon, they got the box open in the correct order of numbers on the piece of paper, and they opened the box to reveal a note. Alex picked up the note and read it.

"You completed one challenge to rescue your friend. Now, head to the lobby to wait for your other friends to come back. Once they're back, you have to vote two people to head into the death challenge."

Nikita nodded a bit and led everyone back to the lobby. "Let's go."

~❄⛄🗝~

For Mat's team, their challenge was a bit more tricky but they did a good job on it! They had to complete their own sliding puzzle made of ice, with no gloves on. The puzzles were on their own tables, and it was up to only the player to solve it.

Caihong solved hers first with ease, smiling happily when she completed hers. Mat finished after Caihong, looking happy. Joey was third to finish, and shook his left hand a bit as the puzzle was completed. 

"God, I can't feel my fingers." Joey put his hand into one pocket of his jacket.

Rosanna was last to finish, and she looked excited as the puzzle was complete. She and Mat high-fived as a box opened up near them.

Caihong got to the box, then opened it. She took out the note and handed it to Joey to read.

Joey took the note gently and started to read. "You completed the challenge to rescue your friend. By this point, they have already been released and should be waiting for your group at the lobby along with the other. Once you go in, you will have to vote in two people to face the Ice Witch and her son in the final death challenge."

Mat sighed a bit, and went to lead everyone back inside.

~❄⛄🗝~

Once everyone was inside, Nikita stood up. 

"Did you get the note too?" 

Mat nodded, and looked to see Riku on the couch, a blanket draped around him and him looking a bit sleepy yet sad. "Is he okay?"

Celeste looked at everyone. "Riku is fine. He's just a bit cold from being held captive, but he will be okay soon."

Joey nodded. "Okay, good." He then looked at the voting counter. He then looked back at the others.

"What if we...voted ourselves in?" Joey asked.

"Sounds fair." Bretman agreed.

Rosanna nodded, and Alex agreed too.

Joey was first to vote. Then Rosanna. Then Alex. Then Bretman.

The Sorceress went to shuffle the cards, and pulled two out. She read them out.

"The Aviator and the Jet-Setter."

Rosanna and Alex looked at each other, looking a bit hurt but also seemed to accept it. They both got up, and was led to the exhibit by the Sorceress, Arthur, and Carnival Master. Everyone else, except for Riku, followed to watch.

~❄⛄🗝~

Once they got to the exhibit, the inside was honestly aesthetically pleasing. It was as if it came from a Christmas card. It was a snowy, cold forest with lights to illuminate the room. It felt ethereal.

Rosanna and Alex walked through the room a bit, until they were face to face with the Ice Witch and her son, Noel.

Noel started to go towards them, but his mom held an arm out to stop him.

"Noel...Not yet. They have to abide by the rules of the challenge." 

That made him back off, still staying silent.

The Ice Witch faced the two. "You two need to solve these three riddles in the two tables in front of you. Write the answer down under the riddle. Whoever got the most wrong, shall remain an ice statue here. Do you understand the rules?"

"Wait, what happened to the winner?" Rosanna asked.

"You get the key that is around my son's neck." Ice Witch answered.

"Sounds fair." Alex commented, and got to a table.

Rosanna got to the other table, smiling. "I'm excited."

"Alright...Start." Ice Witch said, and Alex and Rosanna started to read through the riddles.

The riddles seemed hard, but since they weren't timed, they had time to think before writing down the answer they thought it was true. Pretty soon, both were done at the same time.

Rosanna and Alex hugged each other real quick, as a goodbye hug for each, before going back to their respective tables after Noel collected the papers.

Noel gave his mom the papers, and the Ice Witch read them both.

"...You both got them all wrong."

Rosanna and Alex looked at each other, scared now.

"Well...I guess that means we kill you both." The Ice Witch started to go for them, along with Noel.

While that happened, and Rosanna and Alex went to back away, Mat ran into the room and stood in front of Rosanna.

"You will not take Rosanna away from me again!" Mat shouted, facing the Ice Witch.

The Ice Witch froze Mat right there with her frozen breath, and Alex, unfortunately, fell victim too after Riku made a late entrance.

Riku ran up and grabbed the key off of Noel, who stumbled back a bit. He held his head before looking up at Riku.

"...Riku?" Noel said, softly.

"Yeah, it's me." Riku smiled a tiny bit and went to hug Noel tightly. Noel hugged back just as tightly.

"I'm so sorry for what I did...I froze a dude and kidnapped you." Noel said, close to crying.

"It's fine, you're okay," Riku said. "It was my fault for making a late entrance. I was still recovering from being held by you."

"Got cold?" Noel asked.

Riku nodded, then looked over at Rosanna and Mat.

Rosanna was crying, holding onto the now ice statue Mat, as the rest of the gang ran in.

"Oh my god..." Joey covered his mouth. Nikita looked worried.

Carnival Master went to Mat, and seemed...guilty. He looked at Rosanna, and patted her on the head before she looked up at him.

"Please go with the others. You survived this round, and I'll be back soon."

Rosanna looked confused, before sniffling and wiping her eyes. "...What are you going to do to Mat?"

"Mat will be okay. Just go to put the key in the lock."

Rosanna sniffled again, then went back to the group. Carnival Master faced the frozen Mat again.

"I remember you from Everlock. You were one of them who helped Joey stop me from erasing Everlock forever, and also helped Christina defeat me. Her own dad." Carnival Master sighed. "And yet...you took my daughter under her wing. You kept her in a family and loved her. At least, that's what I heard. And for that...it makes me think about how I left both of my kids. Of course, I made Lucy turn into this evil girl with a demon dog, and Christina turned on her own. You gave her a dad that loves her, and for that...I thank you. Both Lucy and Christina deserved the best, and you did a good thing for Christina. Even as Lucy is now trying to get help."

Carnival Master placed a hand onto Mat's head, and the group turned around and watched as Mat unthawed and fell backward. The Carnival Master caught him, and picked him up before walking to the others.

"...You guys didn't see anything." Carnival Master looked at the group.

Rosanna looked happy. "I did see something! Thank you so much!"

"That was honestly very cool," Joey admitted, but then looked confused. "Why don't you do it to Alex too?"

"I am a bit powerless in this realm. Along with the Sorceress. I only could do it once." Carnival Master answered.

"I'll figure out how to thaw him out." Sorceress said.

"Alright, well...While you work on that, we should head back." Joey went back to the lobby with the group, as Sorceress stayed behind to help Alex.

~❄⛄🗝~

Once they got back to the lobby, Mat was laid on the couch and covered with a blanket. He was pale with some blue tints to places like lips and his fingers. Riku and Noel were in the lobby as well, Noel getting hugged by Dawn, Celeste, Caihong, and Riku respectively.

"Will Mat be okay?" Bretman asked, looking concerned.

"Unfortunately, it looks like he'd be out for the rest of the night." Carnival Master answered as Riku went to unlock the lock.

Sorceress came back after Carnival Master talked. "Yeah...turns out my power can't work that well to fully thaw people out."

"Well...hopefully, they'll both be okay...We have one lock left, you guys." Joey smiled. "We might get out of here!"

Everyone looked happy, until they heard the sound of four women cackling...


	9. Fourth Time's a Charm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet the newest addition to the coven.

Out of the entrance/exit from the lobby, four girls walked by the lobby, stopped, and turned their eyes towards the group before facing them.

It was the three witches from Everlock. And a new witch in their coven.

"Oh hell no." Rosanna said, going to hide behind Joey.

Sandra smiled. "Well...Some faces are new. And some are extremely old."

Debra nodded. "Well, we know the blonde with glasses...The blonde in black...and the sacrifice."

"Leave Ro alone!" Joey spread his arms out to protect Rosanna more, and Nikita pulled out the sword she had.

"Oh, promise us, we won't hurt her yet..." Belle said with a smile.

"Weren't there three of you last time? Who's the fourth?" Nikita asked.

"Oh, our newcomer. This is Lydia." Sandra pushed the new witch forward a bit, and she looked just as gothic and spooky as the other three.

The one difference is the fact that the last key hung from her black choker, like a tag for a dog's collar.

Lydia walked towards the group, starting to notice Mat on the couch. She looked back to her coven of witches, and pointed to Mat.

"There's another."

"Leave Mat alone too!" Rosanna called from behind Joey.

Lydia backed away from Mat's unconscious body, then immediately rushed to Nikita. She grabbed Nikita by the arm and disappeared into black smoke with Nikita.

The three witches also disappeared, all of them cackling.

"No! God damn it!" Joey sighed.

"Where the hell did they take my friend?" Bretman asked, as Rosanna stayed where she was.

A box opened near Rosanna, and she went to get the box. There were three numbered small keys, three maps, and a note. Rosanna gave the keys to Celeste before reading the note.

"It is time for the players to split up again. This time, they must be done only by them. They cannot have help from anyone else. Once all challenges are done, go back to the lobby to vote for a sacrifice if you wish to save your friend from becoming a sacrifice."

"So...we have our own individual challenges." Joey held the keys. "Honestly that sounds...kind of weird, but okay."

"We'll hold down the fort here as you three go. Go save your friend." Noel said, smiling softly.

"Alright." Joey nodded, and handed one key and map to Bretman, and then one key to Rosanna. Each key had it's own corresponding map to where the challenge would be. "Let's do this." 

Bretman and Rosanna nodded before the three followed their maps to find their challenge.

~🧙♀️🧹🗝~

For Bretman, he went to his challenge outside the museum. There was a gated hedge maze, like the one from when they went to beat Medusa. He unlocked the gate door, and started to walk through the maze. Going through different ways, stepping back in case he ran into a dead-end, and everything was going great, honestly.

After a while, he got to the center of the maze to reveal this small tower with some rings next to it. There was also a note. Bretman read it.

"Build the witch's hat to complete this challenge."

Bretman started to go through the small pile of rings, and started to complete it from the largest piece to the smallest. Pretty soon, the puzzle was done, and the maze itself disappeared out of thin air.

"...Guess I did it." Bretman smiled, and went to try and find any of the others.

~🧙♀️🧹🗝~

Joey was at his challenge, which was at an exhibit in the museum. He unlocked the door to the room, and opened the room. It was covered in spiderweb-like skeins, and it had a small barrel at the end of the giant wall of a skein. Joey took a deep breath, and started to step over, duck, and crawl around the skein lines. After a few minutes, Joey got to the barrel and looked in. It was an apple-bobbing barrel, and there was a note next to the barrel on a table.

"Bob until you get the green apple."

Joey nodded and immediately went to bob his head into the water and grab apples. He kept going in and out for breaths, and throwing red apples out of the barrel. After a while, he finally got the green apple, and he took the apple from his mouth before slamming it down onto the table.

As Joey shook his head a bit, like a dog trying to dry off by shaking their fur, the skein and barrel disappeared out of thin air. He looked around to see them gone, and ran out of the room. 

Running into Bretman.

Bretman looked at Joey. "Hey! Did you do yours?"

Joey nodded. "Yes! Did you do it as well?"

"Hell yeah." Bretman nodded. "Let's go find Rosanna."

Joey nodded in agreement and they both ran.

~🧙♀️🧹🗝~

Rosanna was at her challenge, and was unlocking the door to the bakery cafe exhibit where they found Dawn in. She walked in, and her fate awaited on a table in the middle of the cafe area.

A small one-person table with a small, cauldron shaped cup on it. Along with a note.

"...Is this what I think it is?" Rosanna thought out loud to herself, and walked over to the table slowly. She read the note.

"Finish what you started."

Rosanna looked back at the cup, and sighed. "God damn it all to hell."

She took some deep breaths, before picking up the cup. Rosanna sighed before looking determined. She then proceeded to chug the whole mug of the weird drink, before slamming the cup back down. While the table and mug disappeared, Rosanna immediately grabbed a cupcake from a stand and started to eat it to get rid of the taste. 

As Rosanna ate the cupcake, Joey and Bretman ran in. They both hugged Rosanna as she slowly hugged back.

"Sorry, I'm eating a cupcake." Rosanna said after swallowing a bite.

"Why?" Joey asked.

"I had to drink that disgusting drink again." Rosanna sighed, taking another bite of her cupcake.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry." Joey looked concerned. "Did you do it, though?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to get the taste away." Rosanna nodded.

"Alright, well, let's get back to the lobby, okay?" Bretman asked the two.

The two agreed and they all ran back to the lobby.

~🧙♀️🧹🗝~

Once they got back to the lobby, Noel looked up at them.

"Did you three do it?" Noel asked.

"Yes." Joey nodded, then sighed. "...Now we have to sacrifice someone."

Bretman sighed, then went to vote. He voted himself.

Joey next. Voted himself.

Rosanna last. Voted herself.

Once the Sorceress started to shuffle the cards, she pulled one out, and showed it off.

Bretman.

Bretman sighed softly, before nodding. "I'll do it for Nikita. She's my best friend."

"Alright...I'm so sorry, Bretman." Joey went to hug Bretman softly, and Rosanna hugged the two as well.

Bretman hugged them both, smiling sadly. "Tell Nikita I said I love her, okay?"

"We will." Rosanna nodded, sniffling a bit.

Joey ended the hug, as the Sorceress, Arthur, and the Carnival Master came over.

"Follow us." Arthur said, and the three led Bretman out. Joey and Rosanna waited in the lobby, with everyone.

~🧙♀️🧹🗝~

Once they were outside, the witches were starting to untie Nikita from the altar. Nikita got up quickly and ran to Bretman.

"Bretman, you don't have to do this!" 

"Oh, but he has to!" Belle said, smirking evilly. "Unless you want the Collector to come early."

"I can do it, Nikita." Bretman hugged Nikita softly, who hugged back tightly. After a bit, he pulled away from the hug.

"You will do amazing, girl." Bretman said as he faced the altar with the witches and went to lay down on it.

Nikita stood back, not watching the scene. She was crying a lot.

It was just then...when the unthinkable happened.

Carnival Master, Arthur, and Sorceress ran in and stopped the three witches from stabbing Bretman.

Bretman saw Lydia looking shocked, and snatched the key from the witch's choker. 

Lydia stumbled a bit as the main three witches started to fight the three big bads. She then looked down at Bretman and started to help him off safely. 

"Why were you on that altar?!" Lydia said.

"You and your sisters were about to sacrifice me!" Bretman said.

"...Okay, honestly, I didn't know that there'd be human sacrifices...I didn't know there'd be any sacrifices once I joined this coven. I am so sorry." Lydia looked guilty.

"It's okay. If I remember correctly, the key corrupts you. Don't worry, though, as you and your other friends might escape with us." Bretman held the key up.

Lydia nodded and went to get Bretman to Nikita, where the two hugged each other so much.

"Bretman! Thank god you're alive, girl!" Nikita said happily, now crying happily.

"Honestly, hell yeah! Now, let's unlock the last key." Bretman ran with Nikita, the three big bads soon following behind as Lydia ran with them.

~🧙♀️🧹🗝~

"Hey!"

Joey perked up at the sound of Bretman's voice, and looked over the couch to see them all standing there.

Bretman held up the final key. "I look pretty good for a dead bitch."

"Oh my goodness!" Rosanna smiled happily and ran to hug both Nikita and Bretman along with Joey.

Meanwhile, as the four hugged, Celeste ran to Lydia and hugged her. She hugged back happily. 

"Wait, but how did you survive?" Joey asked Bretman, looking confused. 

"We fought the witches." Sorceress said, pointing to Arthur and Carnival Master as she said it.

"Oh, wow...you three had a change of heart, huh?" Joey said.

"Well, yes, of course. People can change over time." Arthur said, nodding. "We want to get out of this museum as much as you do."

Joey smiled a bit. "Well, now we can finally escape!"

Bretman went to unlock the last lock, which then revealed two very special gifts...


	10. The Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Collector Returns.

Once the door with locks opened, it revealed a small globe-like contraption and a menacing box.

"...That's the key to defeat the Collector." Sorceress said, looking surprised.

"The box or the sphere thing?" Nikita asked.

"The sphere," Sorceress said. "You can use that to defeat the Collector!"

"Are you sure?" Joey said, picking up the cosmic sphere.

"Last time I heard, yes!"

Joey placed the figure down, and then looked at the box. "What's that then?"

"Don't touch it! That's a Pandora's Box! Only evil lives in there!" The Carnival Master warned.

"Alright, the box is evil." Rosanna made a mental note, as then they heard a creepy whispering and the sound of a door opening.

"What was that?" Nikita asked as she, Bretman, Rosanna, and Joey walked towards the sound.

Joey took one last final look at the box before following.

~🌐😈🎁~

Once they reached the new exhibit, they were in awe.

It was like this tiny garden area, but on the inside. The grass was a dark green, of course, and the room was dimly lit. In the room was this green jar and a staff.

"She had it here the whole time!?" Sorceress went to the staff and picked it up. "...Oh my goodness. I can feel my power returning."

The Carnival Master went to the jar. "Joey...Do you know these people?"

Joey went to the jar and looked inside. Inside the jar, was a bunch of the souls of the people who died. Tana, Matt, Glozell...Everyone who has died was in there!

"Oh my goodness! How do we save them?!" Joey tried to open the jar, but couldn't get it open. "Damn it."

"Wait, maybe we can-"

"WHO DARES DISTURB MY MUSEUM?!" A woman's voice shouted angrily.

Rosanna, Joey, and Bretman looked outside to see the Collector.

The Collector looked pissed off.

"Oh shit." Nikita whispered, then Joey ran out to the room. He grabbed the cosmic sphere, and ran out with everyone except for Arthur.

"How did you get that sphere?!" Collector shouted at Joey. It was her against Joey, Nikita, Rosanna, Bretman, Carnival Master, and the Sorceress.

"We unlocked all the locks! And now we can destroy you!" Joey then looked to the Sorceress. "What do I do with the sphere?!"

"Throw it!" Sorceress demanded, and Joey threw the sphere at the Collector.

Before the cosmic sphere can even work, the Collector knocked it away with the staff she had of her own. The sphere fell onto the floor, now broken.

"...Oh no." Was all that Joey said, as some of the Collector's guards were summoned.

"You cannot stop me, you foolish people! You will all die here!" Collector smiled evilly...

Then there was the sound of a gun. And the Collector held onto her right shoulder.

Joey looked confused, then looked up towards the entrance of the house.

It was Justine. And Matt. And Tana. And Gabbie.

And everyone.

Justine slowly lowered the smoking gun. "You forgot about us."

In front of Joey, Nikita, Bretman, Rosanna, Carnival Master, and Sorceress, were all the new people they met. Riku, Dawn, Agatha, all of them.

It was now so many people against the Collector and some of her guards.

"How did you all get out?!" Collector shouted.

"Arthur broke the jar!" Teala said. Just on cue, Arthur ran out to be by the Sorceress and Carnival Master.

"Honestly...I haven't thought of that." Joey admitted, then faced the Collector. "It's over!"

"It is not over! You have to beat me!" The Collector ran towards the group, along with her guards.

Pretty soon, it was a whole war. The deceased against the guards. Joey and the survivors of that night against the Collector.

As more guards got summoned to help Collector, a portal opened to reveal some more people.

Tyler. Eva. Ollie. Andrea.

And Christina.

Pretty soon, the Collector was absolutely defeated, and everyone cheered. Hugs, high fives, fist bumps, and everyone was so happy!

Once dawn had started to break in the sky, Joey saw as Ryu and Jael were waiting on the other side of the portal that was open.

"Guys, we can leave!" Joey smiled and started to help everyone go through the portal and back into modern times.

Before Safiya and Rosanna left, they looked behind to see a very tired and still cold-looking Mat shamble out of the museum.

"Mat!" Rosanna ran to him and hugged him tightly. He hugged back tightly, and saw Safiya too.

"Safiya...?" Mat asked.

"Yes." Safiya smiled happily and hugged Mat and Rosanna before the two girls started to help Mat out.

Nikita walked out with Manny and Bretman, the three smiling happily and being bad bitches.

The survivors from the past also went back through the portal with their friends and allies in arms.

Christina saw Carnival Master, and sighed a bit. "Okay...Did you do anything bad?"

"I promise, no I did not." Carnival Master rolled his eyes playfully. "I even saved your new dad."

"...Huh. You really did change, huh?" Christina said.

"Yes...And I'm sorry for what I did to your mother, you, and Lucy."

"...I don't forgive you for right now. Legit, right now, I wanna smack your arm." Christina said, which made the Carnival Master sigh but accept it.

"Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't." Carnival Master smiled a bit and walked out of the portal with Christina.

All that was left was Joey after everyone left.

Joey...seemed to hesitate.

"...Joey?" Nikita asked, looking back at Joey. "Aren't you coming through?"

All Joey did...was smile a bit evilly as he started to run back towards the museum.

"Joey-!" Tim tried to run for the portal, but it closed. "...What the hell just happened?"

~🌐😈🎁~

As Joey ran back into the museum, he went straight to the Pandora's Box. Ever since they took it out of the locked space, the box had been calling to him. And now he was finally going to open it.

He took the box, placed it on the table, and opened it. As soon as he did, red light and black smoke started to swirl around him. Joey seemed to be a bit confused...

Then started to panic as he saw himself turning into a gray smoke that was getting into the box.

Joey struggled and squirmed, but it was too late.

The gray smoke that was Joey got sucked into the Pandora's Box, and then the box closed.

The red, glowing eyes of the Cursed God on all 4 sides of the box stopped glowing...

~ Fin ~


End file.
